2012 Schedule Released

December 10, 2011 - Continental Indoor Football League (CIFL) News Release

The Continental Indoor Football League is excited to announce the league schedule for the 2012 season, the 7th for the league. The season will kickoff on March 10th with the Chicago Vipers traveling to face the Port Huron Patriots at McMorran Arena in one of six home games for Port Huron. Patriots co-owners Dave and Cyndi Kinsman said, "We are thrilled to bring the CIFL back to Port Huron on March 10th and await the Chicago Vipers with open arms". The opening weekend will also feature the home opener for the Dayton Silverbacks on March 11th as they host the Indianapolis Enforcers. Evansville and Saginaw will be off during the opening weekend but will make up for it on May 19th, the last weekend of the regular season as the Sting will travel to Evansville in the only game of the final weekend. The Saginaw Sting, 2008 CIFL champions and champions of the UIFL in 2011, will host the Chicago Vipers on March 18th at the DOW Event Center and will play six home games. Sting co-owner Rob Licht is looking forward to the CIFL season saying, "The Saginaw Sting are very excited about the level of competition that has joined the CIFL.  We look forward to defending our previous championships and working together with other teams in our league to establish the CIFL's presence in the Midwest Region." Along with the CIFL, the Dayton Silverbacks will be entering their 7th season. They will again play at Hara Arena, having three of their first four games at home. Silverbacks general manager Michael Lause commented on the schedule, "We are very happy that the schedule this year became more compact with less bye weeks. We had a lot of breaks last year where I felt our team was hot and wanted to keep that going and we went into a bye week, including into the playoffs last year. This year it will definitely be a survival of the fittest going from week to week and every team will have to be ready to play every week or come playoff time, they will be sitting home." The Indianapolis Enforcers, a travel team for the 2011 season, will call The Forum at Fishers home for the 2012 season. Their home opener will be March 31st against the Chicago Vipers after playing their first three on the road. "We are excited to have a home venue this season. We really learned what it takes to build a winner in indoor football as we were a travel team last season. We intend to field a solid and competitive team and hope to make a run at the CIFL championship," stated Enforcers owner KC Carter.

The city of Evansville will see indoor football return in the form of the Evansville Rage. The Rage will host the Indianapolis Enforcers in a St. Patrick's Day showdown at the Metro Sports Center in the season opener for Evansville. Rage owner David Reed says, "We are proud to be part of the CIFL, We see nothing but great things for the league and look forward to building a strong rivalry with our in-state opponent, the Indianapolis Enforcers." After a one year absence, the CIFL will return to the Chicagoland area as the Chicago Vipers will call The Odeum Expo Center home. The Vipers will host only three games for the 2012 season and also have availability to host for the playoffs should they qualify. They will host the Saginaw Sting on April 7th. Co-owners Richard Petroski Jr. and Michael Duran say, "The Chicago Vipers are looking to make a statement in 2012 that has not been done the last few years! We have been around this game for some time and are looking to make this great league even greater!" Other highlights of the 2012 schedule are a home and home battle for the Michigan Cup between the Patriots and Sting. Those games will take place on April 14th in Port Huron and April 20th in Saginaw. Indianapolis and Evansville will have a similar challenge as they meet three times during the season, March 17th and April 21st in Evansville and Mother's Day weekend on May 12th in Indianapolis. The top four teams will qualify for the playoffs, which will begin on the weekend of May 26th. The playoff format will have #1 hosting #4 and #2 hosting #3. The 2012 CIFL Championship Game will be held on June 2nd. Please note, the Playoffs could start on June 2nd if voted on by the owners prior to the season in order to miss Memorial Day weekend.

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Continental Indoor Football League Stories from December 10, 2011

• 2012 Schedule Released - CIFL

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